Field
The described embodiments relate to techniques for wirelessly communicating information among electronic devices, including determining a sounding interval for updating transmission beamforming and antenna patterns for wireless communication.
Related Art
Many electronic devices are capable of wirelessly communicating with other electronic devices. For example, these electronic devices can include a networking subsystem that implements a network interface for: a cellular network (UMTS, LTE, etc.), a wireless local area network (e.g., a wireless network such as described in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard or Bluetooth™ from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group of Kirkland, Wash.), and/or another type of wireless network.
In order to improve performance during wireless communication among electronic devices, many electronic devices include multiple antennas that can use beamforming techniques to provide transmission beamforming. When configured properly, the transmission beamforming can address the performance challenges in an environment, such as with a multi-path communication channel.
Because the environment of an electronic device can change, it is often necessary to update the transmission beamforming. The transmission beamforming is usually determined regularly, such as after a time interval (which is referred to as a ‘sounding interval’) has elapsed.
However, the choice of the sounding interval represents a tradeoff A short sounding interval can provide transmission beamforming that is a good match for the environment (and, thus, may result in a high value of the signal-to-noise ratio) at the cost of more overhead. Alternatively, a long sounding interval can reduce the overhead, but may result in transmission beamforming that is less optimal for the environment (and, thus, may result in a lower value of the signal-to-noise ratio). The difficulty in selecting the sounding interval and the changes in the environment can degrade the performance of the communication.